Synopsis

This course introduces students to the complex world of commerce. It emphasises the practical and functional nature of business decisions from the perspective of financial accounting; managerial costing and budgetary policies; investing; and financing of business operations. Designed to provide a solid foundation for further study in both accounting and non-accounting disciplines, the course provides a logical introduction to the accounting environment and to the common financial accounting (external) reports and management accounting (internal) tools used for decision-making purposes. As it is important to develop an understanding not only of how the accounting reports are used, but how they are derived, the course also addresses the procedures underlying their preparation. As the course assessment includes online tests, students will require Internet access to UConnect. Access to a valid email account will also be required.

Objectives

On successful completion of this course students should be able to:

demonstrate professional literacy and ethical research and enquiry through an understanding of the environment in which businesses operate in Australia and the importance of accountability in decision making

demonstrate an understanding of how a business operates with regard to decision making, planning and control and problem solving and demonstrate management planning and organisation skills using cost volume profit (CVP) analysis and budgeting techniques

demonstrate professional literacy and problem solving through a theoretical and practical knowledge of the principles and concepts that underpin accounting systems, the underlying business transactions and their effect on the accounting equation, individual accounts and the financial reports of a business

demonstrate professional literacy and problem solving skills through a theoretical and practical knowledge of how merchandising operations, accounts receivable and payable subsidiary ledgers and bank reconciliations impact on financial accounting process

demonstrate problem solving, professional literacy, ethical research and enquiry and management planning and organisation skills through the completion of balance day adjustments, closing entries, preparation of the key financial statements for a business, application of common financial statement analysis techniques and interpretation and discussion of the results of these analysis techniques and their implications for a business

demonstrate problem solving, management planning and organisation skills and professional literacy by being able to explain the business investment decision-making process and apply common investment appraisal tools

demonstrate ethical research and enquiry, an understanding of sustainability issues and the implications of triple bottom line accounting in the context of key factors that are relevant to operating a sustainable business.

Topics

Description

Weighting(%)

1.

Accounting and the business environment

8.00

2.

Planning for business: cost-volume-profit analysis

8.00

3.

Planning for business: budgeting

8.00

4.

Business operations: transaction analysis

8.00

5.

Business operations: the recording process - general journal

9.00

6.

Business operations: the recording process - general ledger, subsidiary ledgers and trial balance

9.00

7.

Business operations: the recording process - balance day adjustments

9.00

8.

Bank reconciliations and the adjusted trial balance

9.00

9.

Reporting financial performance and position

8.00

10.

Analysis of business performance

8.00

11.

Business capital expenditure decisions - growing the business

8.00

12.

Sustaining the business: triple bottom line considerations

8.00

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from USQ's Online Bookshop (unless otherwise stated). (https://bookshop.usq.edu.au/bookweb/subject.cgi?year=2012&sem=02&subject1=ACC1101)

Students should attempt all online tests. The practice test is formative. Test 1 is worth 5% and test 2 is worth 10% (15% in total). Students are strongly encouraged to complete tests as they fall due in order to keep up with course content.

The career development assessment requires on-campus students to attend an event with a guest speaker(s) and to write a report related to the event. Students will be advised of the date of the event in weeks 1 - 2 and the event will take place in weeks 4 - 5. External students will be provided with a recording of the event in order to write their report.

The assignment is to be completed in teams of six students. You will be assigned to a team by the lecturer. If you wish to complete the assignment individually, you must contact the course leader to make your case.

The examination is scheduled to be held in the end-of-semester examination period. Students will be advised of the official examination date for exam (parts A and B) after the timetable has been finalised. The total working time for exam (parts A and B) is 2 hours.

Important assessment information

Attendance requirements:
If you are an international student in Australia, you are advised to attend all classes at your campus. For all other students, there are no attendance requirements for this course. However, it is the students' responsibility to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.

Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks. (Depending upon the requirements in Statement 4 below, students may not have to satisfactorily complete each assessment item to receive a passing grade in this course.)

Penalties for late submission of required work:
If students submit assignments after the due date without prior approval of the examiner, then a penalty of 5% of the total marks gained by the student for the assignment may apply for each working day late up to ten working days at which time a mark of zero may be recorded.

Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.

Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course.

Examination information:
This is a restricted examination. Candidates are allowed access only to specific materials during the examination. The only materials that candidates may use in the restricted examination for this course are: writing materials (non-electronic and free from material which could give the student an unfair advantage in the examination); calculators which cannot hold textual information (students must indicate on their examination paper the make and model of any calculator(s) they use during the examination). Students whose first language is not English may take an appropriate unmarked non-electronic translation dictionary (but not technical dictionary) into the examination. Dictionaries with any handwritten notes will not be permitted. Translation dictionaries will be subject to perusal and may be removed from the candidate's possession until appropriate disciplinary action is completed if found to contain material that could give the candidate an unfair advantage. Students are not permitted to take mobile telephones, pagers or other electronic means of communication into the examination room.

Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
Any Deferred or Supplementary examinations for this course will be held during the next examination period.

University Student Policies:
Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene University policies and practices. These policies can be found at http://policy.usq.edu.au.

Assessment notes

Course weightings: Course weightings of topics should not be interpreted as applying to the number of marks allocated to questions testing those topics in an examination paper. The examination may test material already tested in previous summative assessment items.

Referencing in assignments: Harvard (AGPS) is the referencing system required in this course. Students should use Harvard (AGPS) style in their assignments to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. The Harvard (AGPS) style to be used is defined by the USQ Library's referencing guide at http://www.usq.edu.au/library/referencing.

Other requirements

Students can expect that questions in assessment items in this course may draw upon knowledge and skills that they can reasonably be expected to have acquired before enrolling in this course. This includes knowledge contained in pre-requisite courses and appropriate communication, information literacy, analytical, critical thinking, problem solving or numeracy skills. Students who do not possess such knowledge and skills should not expect the same grades as those students who do possess them.